Introduction

I would like to thank ASRock for providing the review sample.

This is the second ION based HTPC system we have on our test bench. It differs fundamentally from the Zotac MAG ION in terms of looks and also comes with a few unique features. The ASRock ION 330HT can be had in white or black and you also have the option to go with a normal DVD drive or a Blu-Ray one. We got the black ION 330HZT-BD, which comes with the new generation optical drive and represents the top-of-the line offering from ASRock.

	Zotac MAG	Acer Aspire Revo R3600	ASRock ION 330HT-BD	Lenovo IdeaCentre Q110
CPU	Atom 330 2 x 1.60 GHz	Atom 330 2 x 1.60 GHz	Atom 330 2 x 1.60 GHz	Atom 230 1 x 1.60 GHz
Chipset	NVIDIA ION	NVIDIA ION	NVIDIA ION	NVIDIA ION
Hard Drive	160 GB 5400 RPM	320 GB 5400 RPM	320 GB 5400 RPM	160 GB 5400 RPM
Optical Drive	N/A	N/A	BluRay-ROM	N/A
Memory Size	2048 MB	4096 MB	2048 MB	2048 MB
Wireless	WLAN 802.11b/g/n	WLAN 802.11b/g	WLAN 802.11b/g/n	N/A
I/O	VGA, HDMI, eSATA, SPDIF, Mic/Headset, 6x USB 2.0, Ethernet	VGA, HDMI, eSATA, Mic/Headset, 6x USB 2.0, Ethernet	VGA, HDMI, 6x USB 2.0, eSATAp, Gb LAN, 7.1 Audio, 6x USB 2.0, Ethernet	HDMI, Headset, 4x USB 2.0, Ethernet
Card Reader	SD, MMC, MS, MS Pro, xD	SD, MMC, MS, MS Pro, xD	N/A	N/A
Dimension (D x H x W)	186 x 189 x 38 mm	180 x 180 x 30 mm	186 x 195 x 70 mm	156 x 176 x 20 mm
Price*	249 €	349 €	399 €	299 €

*MSRP shown, retail may be a bit cheaper - especially online shops.

The ASRock ION 330HT-BD has a few very distinctive features. While the Blu-Ray drive is one of the most obvious, you will also find an eSATAp port (p for power) and a remote control as part of the package - but I am getting ahead of myself here.